Optimizing natural ventilation strategy in existing buildings using differential evolution: Case of architectural studio classrooms

Abstract

Natural ventilation plays a vital role towards provision of healthy indoor environment condition for occupants in a building. Yet particularly in winter providing sufficient level of fresh air to indoor environment causes a significant increase in heating energy consumption. To this end the current study aims to propose an optimum natural ventilation strategy while minimizing heating energy consumption and ventilation time which are constrained by minimum allowable fresh air intake. To demonstrate we considered an actual case for the problem at hand which is an architectural studio classroom located in Yasar University Turkey. Next the problem was mathematically formulated using basic physical rules. Comparing results between energy simulation of the considered case and formulated problem accuracy of mathematical expressions was verified. Following we made use of differential evolution (DE) to find the non-dominated set of natural ventilation strategy. The results suggests that DE is able to converge a set of optimum ventilation strategies after adequate number of generations. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.